Timbal Vermut de Reus

About

Birthplace of Antoni Gaudí, the provincial city of Reus lies an hour southwest along the Mediterranean coast from Barcelona, in Tarragona. A market hub, it rose to prominence when the phylloxera scourge struck France and demand for Catalan wine exploded. By 1900, the expression ‘Paris, London and Reus’ denoted the epicenters of the contemporary wine trade, and it was from these roots that Reus evolved to become a center of vermouth production to rival that of Torino and Chambéry. Prior to the outset of the Spanish Civil War, there were some thirty firms producing vermut in Reus alone. Today, Vermut de Reus is amidst a second renaissance, and the Spanish passion for la hora del vermut (‘vermouth hour’) shows no sign of abating. The wines retain a distinctly Catalan character, and can be made in either a primary or lightly oxidative style. While seco (extra dry) and blanco are produced, it is the rojo (sweet red)-style that is still the staple of patrons at every vermuteria.

Credit: Haus Alpenz